Bike MS 2026 – Awareness

When September began, I hoped to make 2026’s Bike MS memorable. I branded it the capstone of my year-long efforts to showcase awareness of our fight against the debilitating effects of multiple sclerosis. I wanted to promote awareness for Suicide Prevention Month, bringing attention to a battle that touches so many parts of my life. Instead, epic events challenged my body, emotions, and resolve every day. The results were extraordinary.

On September 30, I celebrated my 22nd ride of the month. After breaking my foot three days in, the injury only strengthened my commitment to Never Stop… Never Quit…, for them.

Awareness is more than just a key element in the fights against MS and suicide. Awareness is THE factor that will drive the next big movements and spark action as we continue to recruit support for our goals. It has been my sole focus for the past 11 months. I’ll take this time to ask for your support and donations before channeling all my energy back into awareness.

Please donate to support our fight.

Direct to our Bike MS campaign: I https://mssociety.donordrive.com/participant/Rogue

Other ways to donate (100% of the money goes to our mission. I personally pay all administrative costs): https://NeverStopNeverQuit.com/Donate

I need your incredible support again this year to fuel those movements and actions. I can’t do this without you, and I guarantee I will spend every day maximizing the impact of your generosity.

How I Got Here

Three blog posts in September of ’25 tracked the second annual century ride from my garage. Garage Dayz was born! “The Aftermath” described my emotions during the buildup, the 100-mile ride, and the soreness the next day. Visiting my friends to celebrate in McMinnville for Bike MS was the highlight of “A Watershed Year.” On September 30, 2025, I decided to do Garage Dayz “One… More… Time…” in October.

I never stopped those rides, but it took until February for me to admit Garage Dayz was a permanent fixture.

Every month, I ticked off another century in my garage. Every day, I documented my successes and challenges, trying to show my audience what life was like fighting this disease. Raising awareness was my only objective. Silly videos and AI-created music became a staple of my social media feed. All that I want to do is show the world about multiple sclerosis. My worsening MS condition highlights otherwise-normal activities. Everything is difficult, but that’s the point of my social media posts. Simple enough, huh?

• This is how challenging MS makes everything in my life.
• This is what I need to do to accomplish the simplest tasks.
• This is what I do to move forward, improve my strength and coordination, and live another day.
• This is what everyone fighting this disease faces, in their own unique series of challenges.

Showing the world THIS was my focus on awareness. I’m willing to share any part of my life that helps my viewers understand. I want everyone to see what MS is doing to me, to us. Those same efforts demonstrate to my MS and veteran communities that they are not alone; there are ways through this collective hell.

In August, friends joined me in a grand celebration of my 12th month of Garage Dayz—a full year of riding, 1200 miles under my belt. I took that beautiful moment to pause, celebrate, and reflect on what I had accomplished.

I Looked Toward September

National Suicide Prevention Month has a special meaning to me:

• Military veterans have a suicide rate 50% higher than the civilian population.
• Individuals fighting multiple sclerosis are twice as likely to die by suicide.
• Children of suicide victims are 3x more likely to kill themselves.
• I am an Army veteran, medically retired because of my multiple sclerosis, who discovered his father’s body after a .38 caliber pistol ended his life.
• The number 22 is a symbolic representation of veteran suicide rates and a rallying cry in advocacy for suicide prevention. “22-a-day is 22 too many!”

My objective was clear. September 10 (World Suicide Prevention Day) was to be my 13th consecutive century ride before joining my MS family in McMinnville on the 26th, with my recumbent trike and trainer to ride 22 miles.

Neither of those things happened. Instead, I broke my foot on September 3. A displaced fracture of my left foot’s fifth metatarsal (the long bone going up the pinky toe side), plus a hairline fracture on the fourth. Surgery required for that fracture would be more than my MS-riddled body could endure. The fifth metatarsal will go the way of my right supraspinatus tendon, slowly fading away until it absorbs back into my body.

Never Stop…

What can I do with a fractured foot that will never heal, injured during the month I committed 122 miles to support the fights against multiple sclerosis and suicide? The orthopedic surgeon did not specifically clear me to ride my recumbent trike. After a heartfelt conversation, she did not specifically restrict me from riding 22 miles at this year’s Bike MS.

Our conversation was on September 9. I had two rides logged

Garage Dayz became a 22-mile grind; my Bike MS ride in McMinnville stretched beyond 62 miles (a 100 km metric century). Between September 10 and September 30, I rode 20 times for a combined distance of 616 miles. In September, I completed 22 rides for 656 miles. And, yes, at the end of my ride on September 30, I celebrated my 20,000th day alive. The entire month was an awareness of my fight to live, to thrive. You can’t make this stuff up!

Never Quit…

It’s going to take some time for me to sort out the details of how I can make next year bigger and better, making 2027 a breakout year for branding and awareness. I will try to accomplish this with less damage to my body. The Board of Directors of NEVER STOP NEVER QUIT and I will drive the next big movements and spark action as we continue to support our mission.

The mission of NEVER STOP NEVER QUIT is to raise funds, support treatment, and promote awareness in the fight against multiple sclerosis.

Because it is a fight. The fight is not over, and it won’t be over until a cure is found.

It will never stop… nor will we

It will never quit… nor will we

This is why we fight!

Never Stop… Never Quit…, for them

Thank you for your love and support!

Kevin

If I Die…

If I die on December 28, 2099, I will be 128 years old. There is never enough arrogance to assume my life will span a third century. Today, such an age is beyond our comprehension. When we prepare to step into the 22nd century, that number will be commonplace, though slightly below the expected lifespan for humans who choose to accept genetic integration with nanoscale robotics. My wife will always joke about how I was practically first in line for the DNA origami phase 2 clinical trial, one of two emerging treatments for neurological disorders at the time. The other will be abruptly canceled after six reported deaths mere days before my first scheduled treatment. I remain committed, however; I have no other choice.

Hours before my death, cameras record a final interview. The documentary, For Them, He Never Stopped… Never Quit…, airs less than two months later. Completed almost four years prior, I refuse multiple requests to release the film.

“People are dying to hear the story, KB,” the director says time and again.

“It’s not my whole story. Not yet.”

Eventually, they stopped pressing the issue. What happens during the final week validates my stubborn refusal. Millie takes two Oscars home.

***

If I die on December 28, 2071, the irony of any final symmetry in my life will be fodder for comedic stories throughout my memorial celebration. “He did not want any tribute” is the exact reason my friends and family gather; that, and to joke how now they can get a word in edgewise. A printout of my “Do Hard Things” list will sit beside my urn of ashes, triggers to fuel high-spirited stories throughout the night:

• Complete 50 Garage Dayz Rides: my friends find my rhetoric most entertaining, the way I constantly referred to it as “At Least 50 Garage Dayz,” doubling up my ride on more than a few months.
• Walk Across The US: although I’ve planned the event for over three years, everyone still calls it my “Forrest Gump moment,” when, one morning of my vacation, I wake up and just start walking the Lincoln Highway Corridor.
• The Last Child: I refuse recognition, deferring accolades to my co-author, when the subplot of my first bestseller becomes the unofficial designation of NASA’s Panspermia Program.

***

If I die on May 21, 2042, I will have lived 25,712 days. Stephen Byrne, my grandfather, died one day shy of that age, on October 25, 1972. Always fixated on numbers and dates, I have embraced that target ever since my brother, Tom, passed away in 2021. Rolling the clock further back to 1988, my dad’s suicide at 43 years and 79 days will leave an exposed nerve that only partially healed when I turned 43 and 80. I remain in fear until February 7, 2027. Countless “random” dates and numbers, connected only in my mind, will continue to haunt me for my entire life. If I approach 29,969 (Stephen, Sr.), all I envision will be 30k, continuing my pursuit of milestones.

***

If I died on October 26, 1999, none of this would ever have the opportunity to take shape. My suicide would have been a momentary moment of sorrow for most people who knew me, devastating to a small handful. The section of H-1 on Oahu, where I considered careening my car over the ledge, would have a beautiful Yellow Hibiscus display placed at the curve. The yellow blossoms would wither and brown in a day; Never Stop… Never Quit… would never exist, nor would anyone be there to mandate the addition of “for them.”

Join the Conversation
Suicide Prevention Month reminds us that talking about suicide isn’t harmful — silence is. One honest conversation can be a turning point in someone’s life.

https://www.nami.org/stay-connected/events/awareness-events/suicide-prevention-month/

Because it is a fight.

The fight is not over and it won’t be over until a cure is found.

It will never stop…nor will we

It will never quit…nor will we

This is why we fight for them!

 

Never Stop… Never Quit…®

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